Ranking the NFL's 11 .500 Teams

4. Denver Broncos, 3-3 (Bye)

Judging his spiral, Peyton's grip on the ball isn’t what it was, but maybe it doesn’t need to be. Not after Monday night. Not after what he did to erase the Chargers’ comfy 24-0 lead at halftime. Manning rallied Denver back from the dead, completing 13 of 14 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns to save his team from a dreaded 2-4 start. If that Peyton Manning continues to take the field, 3-3 could be a distant memory come December. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

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What It Means to...Chris Young, XFINITY Sports On the heels of an upside-down Week 6, 11 NFL teams are 3-3. That’s 11 teams out of 32 that are .500. Only two teams in the entire AFC are above .500. That's beyond parity. But several of the 3-3 teams appear to be better than their records.

When you compare this season’s standings after six weeks to those of 2011’s you’ll see noted differences as well. Six weeks into last season, only 4 teams were .500 (the Jets, Bears, Falcons and Texans). The Patriots, 3-3 this year, were 5-1; the Texans—5-1 this year—were 3-3; the Saints, now 1-4, were 4-2, and so on. If you go back even further to 2010, you’ll see that again only 4 teams were .500 after Week 6. Green Bay, for example, was 3-3 at this point two seasons ago. They eventually snuck into the playoffs and went on to win Super Bowl XLIV. And that’s the point. A .500 record after six weeks can mean a lot or nothing.

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11. Buffalo Bill...If you look closely at the Bills’ three losses you’ll notice a theme: all were blowouts. The latter two defeats occurred against potent offensive teams (the Patriots and 49ers), where Buffalo’s defense was simply outmatched by better players executing better schemes. Buffalo’s three wins (Kansas City, @ Cleveland, @ Arizona) largely came against sub-.500 teams, with the exception of the 4-2 Cardinals. What this tells me is that Buffalo isn’t very good, but is capable of beating Tennessee to move 4-3 after Sunday. Still, they’re a longshot for the postseason. This isn’t the 2010 Packers we’re talking about. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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10. Washington R...Maybe it’s the ear-to-ear smile. Maybe it’s the socks, but I want Robert Griffin III to succeed. One of the problems I see with these ‘Skins is that they struggle at home. They’re 1-2 at home this season, and 2-1 on the road. Winning home games is often understated, because winning on the road is generally more difficult. The Redskins need to win more when their fans are in their seats. Momentum usually follows. The problem is before Washington can host the Panthers in Week 9, they face the Giants and Steelers in two road games that may equal two losses. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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9. Cincinnati Be...Back-to-back losses are tough to swallow. The Bengals' season can go either way at this point. Their record says they're average, and by and large they've been an average team. But the Bengals have also shown they can score points, especially when Andy Dalton protects the football and utilizes his weapons at play. The problem is Andy Dalton doesn’t protect the football (9 INTs on the year) and it’s why Cincinnati sits just ahead of the 2-3 Steelers in the AFC North. (AP Photo/Michael Keating)

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8. St. Louis Ram...I like Sam Bradford, maybe more than the next guy. He just doesn’t have anyone to throw the ball to. That’s a problem in a pass-heavy NFL and it’s partially why St. Louis is 3-3. Another issue is Steven Jackson. Through six weeks, Jackson has only 323 total yards and zero touchdowns on 89 attempts. Granted, he’s been sharing the workload with Daryl Richardson, but that doesn’t excuse the big fat 0 on his stat sheet. If Jackson can get it going, Bradford will open things up. If that happens consistently, St. Louis can maybe turn an early 3-3 into a positive season. It’s a big “if,” however, considering St. Louis’ next three opponents (Packers, Patriots in London, @ 49ers). (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

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7. Miami Dolphin...Miami is one of those teams that has shown it is capable of good things but not capable of greatness. Part of that falls on rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill; the other part is Miami’s 27th-ranked pass defense. It bears mention, however, that two of Miami’s three losses (Jets, @ Arizona) went to OT and could have been wins had the cards fallen a different way. It also serves to note that Miami will be coming out of its bye week with three winnable games against marginal teams (@ New York Jets, @ Indianapolis, Tennessee). (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

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6. New York Jets...Piling on Mark Sanchez has become passé. The guy is an average quarterback. So instead of blowing him up every other New York minute, I’m going to take aim at Tony Sporano. Where has he been hiding Shonn Greene? Yes, Greene hasn’t looked great for five weeks, averaging 15.2 attempts a game before his Week 6 breakout. Greene scored three times on 32 carries against the Colts. They doubled-up his touches and Greene responded. Keep feeding him. They’ll need Greene to do it again this Sunday on the road at Foxboro with first place in the AFC East up for grabs. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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5. San Diego Cha...Deep down we want to, but we can’t blame Monday night’s debacle on Norv Turner. Not solely. This screencap of Philip Rivers speaks volumes. The good news for the Bolts is that they come out of their bye week with three favorable games (@ Cleveland, Kansas City, @ Tampa Bay) before they head to Mile High for their Week 11 rematch with the Broncos. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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4. Denver Bronco...Judging his spiral, Peyton's grip on the ball isn’t what it was, but maybe it doesn’t need to be. Not after Monday night. Not after what he did to erase the Chargers’ comfy 24-0 lead at halftime. Manning rallied Denver back from the dead, completing 13 of 14 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns to save his team from a dreaded 2-4 start. If that Peyton Manning continues to take the field, 3-3 could be a distant memory come December. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

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3. Philadelphia ...On paper the Eagles are a top 5 team, but too often the talent doesn’t translate on game day. Michael Vick’s 13 turnovers, coupled with putrid play on special teams and a defensive unit that can’t contain leads, has created such a ripple that defensive coordinator Juan Castillo is out of a job after a season and a half. I’m not sure Castillo should be the fall guy here, especially when Marty Mornhinweg routinely tips the scales away from LeSean McCoy. But I'm neither a coach nor team owner. Philadelphia has the players to do great things. The Eagles are better than their record, yet they’re failing to prove it. Week 7 brings a much-needed bye. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower)

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2. Green Bay Pac...The previously unbeaten Houston Texans were forced to defend an angry Aaron Rodgers Sunday night and they were torched for six touchdowns. Green Bay went into Houston and handled its business. Had the replacements refs done their jobs a few weeks back, the Pack would be 4-2 and we’d be talking about Seattle instead right now. But so goes the NFL. Green Bay is a dangerous 3-3, and will be a tall order for any team from now until late December. Looking at the Packers’ schedule over the next five weeks (@ St. Louis, Jacksonville, Arizona, Bye, @ Detroit) they could be 7-3 heading into a tough game against the Giants on Thanksgiving weekend. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)

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1. New England P...A heartbreaker in Seattle kept the Pats from 4-2. The question now is will the stinging loss permeate the team and stick through October? That of course falls on New England. Offensively, the Patriots are good enough to beat anyone, which is what makes their 3-3 start so perplexing. A porous secondary is at the core of much of New England’s early woes. The upside is that the Patriots' schedule strength ranks 32nd in the league. It’s an advantage they’ll need to capitalize on if they want to reach New Orleans. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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